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Jumping Out of the Box

Said John Trudell, Native American poet: "Thinking is energy flowing, believing is energy put in the box." We are being programmed to be believers instead of thinkers. Believing is passive, accepting, and doesn't present much of a challenge to those who create the beliefs for us. Thinking -- if we can get ourselves to do it -- is active, and would certainly present a challenge to our ruler-hosts. Propaganda, when repeated over and over, creates belief in us.

With our creative and inspired energies turned off (see previous section "Personality"), our left brain can do little but believe, as a consequence of not having an active right brain to prod and question it. THEY have effectively put us to sleep. They live, we sleep. When we wake up, they can no longer live quite so easily, as their methods rely on us serving them in our somnambulance. We have to remain in a dull one-cylinder state for their hierarchy to work.

When our true consciousness turns on, the energy of the hierarchy changes. We find ourselves operating on all cylinders, and the former sleepiness we once had is completely transformed. The box is suddenly too small. Much too small. We can never return to it. Finding ourselves out of the box, we look around and say, "Omigosh -- what to do?"

The Reticular Formation

"One of the most important neurological discoveries of our time ... is that tangle of tiny internuncial neurons called the reticular formation, which has long lain hidden and unsuspected in the brainstem. It extends from the top of the spinal cord through the brainstem up into the thalamus and hypothalamus, attracting collaterals from sensory and motor nerves, almost like a system of wire tabs on the communication lines that pass near it. But this is not all. It also has direct lines of command to half a dozen major areas of the cortex and probably all the nuclei of the brainstem, as well as sending fibers down the spinal cord where it influences the peripheral sensory and motor systems. Its function is to sensitize or 'awaken' selected nervous circuits and desensitize others, such that those who pioneered in this work christened it 'the waking brain.'"

(From the 1976 book by Princeton professor Julian Jaynes: "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind." Click image to enlarge diagram.)

It seems that the reticular formation is a locus for consciousness. it is a transactional core in our brain, and may be the thing that -- when triggered to show us the "big picture" -- flips the switch to get us "out of the box." In some people, waking up isn't instantaneous ... they crawl back into their shells and try to forget about what they've just learned. But hopefully, with enough triggers, the reticular formation will begin buzzing too consistently for them to ignore.

Similarly, the reticular formation may be what activates our inspirations. Have you ever had an idea that grabs you so that you literally jump to your feet and know it can be done? You know you can do it -- you can see it in the future -- it's all there. Welcome to the taste of possibility -- produced by your own brain kitchen!

Inspiration: The Triggering Portal

What does inspiration do to you? Could it be said that it changes your whole reality? That it provides you with sudden conviction, and a window into the beyond? And where does inspiration come from? It certainly feels as though it occurs in the mind, but could it be fueled by something outside us? Many would say yes. Divinity, guidance, a spark from God or the infinite. However, even if one is a complete non-believer, inspiration unarguably comes with its own voltage. It is a current -- electric -- and it changes the way you feel.

Let's say that inspiration is transcendent. A flowering of sorts. Whether we can take it anywhere depends on what we decide to do next. There may be many obstacles to our idea and we may quit before taking it even one step further, or we may decide to give it a shot. Why not? See what happens.

In this world of much oppression and many problems, a lot of people are already convinced they will never get anywhere with their ideas. The best we can do is muddle along, earn a paycheck, try to pay the bills. If you're lucky, you can buy a new car or go on vacation. How do we get past that resignation? Wouldn't you love to cut yourself loose from limitation, restriction, that ever-present feeling that you're never going to be able to really be yourself?

The social maze with all of its social protocols, institutions, procedures and relationships is a heavily engineered matrix designed to keep its constituents in a well-managed hive. You are a bee, with a position to keep. Your inspiration will upset the beehive. You are regulated so that you don't even have one very often! And when you do, you'll dismiss it.

For a minute, let's look at the opposite end of the spectrum. Here's an illustration of hive mentality. The famous Asch Paradigm, as it is known, shows how people tend to conform to what the group is doing rather than admit what they see with their own eyes. Conformity is a powerful force. But how do you feel when you realize you've done it? Better? Safer? Or do you feel stupid deep inside? Watch this YouTube video:

Look at the experimental subject's face when he goes against the others. Are you guys crazy? Then look at his face when he goes along with the others. I don't like doing this, but I'm going to do it. The commentator in the video clip says we are social creatures and we prefer to hang with others (even if we don't agree deep down with what they believe).

But when you are inspired ... you tend to do and say and act with great energy. It doesn't matter what other people say. Something inside you is bigger and stronger than they are. What is that something, and how does it work? In the Asch experiment, the subject is eventually not inspired to admit what he actually sees. With enough conditioning, which is what we experience every day as participants in the world, how much like the Asch subject are we becoming?